I am a big sucker for romantic stories. And when it comes to romance, there is nothing like a period drama. When I need a romantic pick-me-up, I watch clips from various screen adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels, movies like Call me by your name (a recent addition) and Amelie. Below are my top go-to romantic video clips dominated by Ms Austen’s work. Do you have any other suggestions? Drop them in the comments.

In this clip from the ‘Pride & Prejudice’ movie, Keira Knightley’s acting aside, Matthew Macfadyen does a good job at portraying the sensual side of Darcy if it ever existed. I love an exhale at 0:11 and his ‘bewitched body and soul’ speech from 2:00. It’s how he says ‘I love you’ that gets a standing ovation from me. I could watch and rewatch this scene. So romantic! 🤩

Again Jane Austen and again ‘Pride & Prejudice’, but this time the BBC series – the famous wet shirt scene. I find it one of the most romantic in this excellent BBC adaptation (although the piano scene is close). It is awkward, it is comedic, and the speed with which Darcy gets changed is supersonic. It’s also a point in a story when they both realise they were wrong and that they really want to be together. Aww!

My other favourite Jane Austen’s adaptation is BBC’s ‘Emma’ with Jonny Lee Miller. His dance scene with Emma where Knightley already knows he is in love with her but she has no idea is super romantic and very well played by both actors.

Finally, ‘North and South’, another BBC adaptation, but not of Jane Austen’s work. The romantic end scene where main characters meet by accident at the train station and finally resolve their feelings. I can not find the clip with actual audio but believe you can find this series on Netflix or Amazon Prime.